Random Shocking Historical Cases of Incest (16 items)

(#1) Cleopatra
- Dec. at 39 (68 BC-30 BC)
Cleopatra, Egyptian pharaoh, married both of her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, keeping with royal Egyptian tradition. In addition to these marriages, she may have killed one or both of the brothers as well.
(#10) Edgar Allan Poe
- Dec. at 40 (1809-1849)
Edgar Allan Poe's second marriage was between him and his first cousin, and when Poe married his cousin Virginia Eliza Clemm, he was 27 years old and she was 13.
(#8) Chulalongkorn
- Dec. at 57 (1853-1910)
The Siamese monarch Chulalongkorn fathered 77 children during his lifetime. Not all of them were born out of incest, but a fair number of them came from his four wives, who were also his half-sisters.
(#13) Saddam Hussein
- Dec. at 69 (1937-2006)
One of the Iraqui dictator's many wives was his first cousin, Sajida Talfah. Their arranged marriage was set when they were just children, and Hussein continued this practice, marrying many of his own children off to their cousins.
(#14) Martin Van Buren
- Dec. at 79 (1782-1862)
Long before he became president, Martin Van Buren married his first cousin once removed, with whom he had five children. She died in 1819, two decades before he became president — Van Buren never remarried.
(#12) Maria I Married Her Uncle
- 81 (1734–1816)
Maria I of Portugal married her uncle. In 1792, ministers deemed the queen regent mad and asked her son, João, to take over as the public-facing representative of the kingdom.